What if doc doesn't complete initial exam paperwork?

tjb1975

tjb1975

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DS's status on DodMETS website is COMPLETE-hold. The reason for the hold is that the contracted physician has not provided all the answers required in the paperwork after 4 contacts from Concorde this week. The exam was 12/31/15. Paperwork submitted to DodMETS on 1/4/16. I spoke with the woman who processed DS at Concorde. Does this become DS's problem at some point? If the doc doesn't hold up his end of the bargain, will DS be directed to re-do the exams at a different facility? I asked the Concorde rep the same question and she didn't really have an answer for me.
 
Bump...75 views and no one has the answer? Yikes. The app status still hasn't changed. I'm going to wait until Thursday to call again. That would be 2 weeks since DS's exam. I believe the gal at Concorde is on top of things but the doc at the contracted facility is not. Interestingly, when we received notice on where to attend, it was just the facility listed, no doc name. So I guess we got who we got that was there that day.
 
I would call the Dr. Office again and ask if they provided the additional documentation needed by Concord. Then follow up with Concord. If Concord is not getting the required information from the Dr, ask them what you should do.

Sorry not much you don't already know, but you plight has not gone unnoticed, but unfortunately there is not much advice we can offer. It seems now it is appropriate for you to become a pest to the contracting physician.

Best of luck, hope it work out.
 
Rather than call, I might try having DS write a brief letter and send it via overnight mail to the physician's office, with a copy to DodMETS. The letter should basically just recap the timeline and politely ask if there is anything extraordinary that is holding up the process that you can assist with?

Then follow up with a call the next day the doc's office to confirm receipt and inquire on the status of the file.

Good luck!
 
It might be something simple, such as a wrong fax number. When my DD was trying to schedule her eye exam, the doctor office kept saying they didn't have paperwork....Turned out concorde was faxing it to a number in another dept at that office. Two hours, six phone calls, finally figured out where it was getting lost. Concorde was great, doctors office, not so much.
 
gokings814 said:
Rather than call, I might try having DS write a brief letter and send it via overnight mail to the physician's office, with a copy to DodMETS. The letter should basically just recap the timeline and politely ask if there is anything extraordinary that is holding up the process that you can assist with?

Then follow up with a call the next day the doc's office to confirm receipt and inquire on the status of the file.

Good luck!
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I like this idea IF the doc's office and doctor were at all approachable and sympathetic. In this case, the entire process appeared to bore them and not be worth their time. We had the 1st appt of the day and the doc was 90 mins late, as an example. DS said that he was the biggest jerk doctor he'd ever been around in his life, spent less than 10 minutes on the appointment, and didn't even make eye contact. So for us, I think it's as much as a dead end as it apparently is for Concorde.
 
EOD/SEALmom said:
It might be something simple, such as a wrong fax number. When my DD was trying to schedule her eye exam, the doctor office kept saying they didn't have paperwork....Turned out concorde was faxing it to a number in another dept at that office. Two hours, six phone calls, finally figured out where it was getting lost. Concorde was great, doctors office, not so much.
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I hope you're right! What the gal at Concorde said was that the doctor did not complete all of the required paperwork, leaving off any information about 2 of the required tests.
 
Of course, the lack of communication could be due to something as simple as the doctor being on vacation or some such thing. I guess worst case scenario we have to go re-do the tests.
 
Is it possible that the doctor didn't do the tests and left the information off because He or she doesn't actually have it? I would call every day, multiple times a day until I got an answer or the information was provided. Two weeks is really not a reasonable delay, IMHO.
 
3boysandadog said:
Is it possible that the doctor didn't do the tests and left the information off because He or she doesn't actually have it? I would call every day, multiple times a day until I got an answer or the information was provided. Two weeks is really not a reasonable delay, IMHO.
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I'm wondering if this isn't the case...how disappointing that a medical professional can't follow directions, if that's the case. DS showed up and provided all the paperwork. He knows he did the urine test (or at least he peed in a cup) and he did the audiology exam. I'm not sure what else would have been included. *sigh* I don't want to be "that mom," but I also don't want some sort of flag on his file due to someone else's goof.
 
Well if it's just a urine and hearing test then there is no excuse for not providing this information in a timely fashion. Is there a family physician or pediatrician who might intervene and call the offending MD directly? This might provide quicker results. Short of that, the next time you call, don't hang up without a resolution.
 
I just got off the phone with a supervisor at Concorde. They are going to more "aggressively pursue" a resolution with the MD at the contracted facility as well as report to the manager there that we've had a disappointing experience. I was again told that there is no action necessary on our part at this point, but there is a "secondary option" to getting whatever DODMERB needs should this situation not come to an acceptable conclusion. They did say I could call the facility and put pressure on from our end. DS didn't even have the physician's name (our appointment was with a facility, not a singular MD), so Concorde did look that up for me. I will let Concorde call today and I will call tomorrow, presuming they'll even speak to me since DS is 18 now.
 
DS's Concorde Status went from "Complete" to "Complete-hold", which of course prompted a phone call from me. Concorde told me that the eye doctor did not answer one of the questions on the Opto exam. She told me that this was quite common, and that one of their case workers was going to call the eye doctor, but that I could also call the eye doctor as well. I just got off the phone with the eye doctor's office; I will give them until 4:00 PM to send Concorde what is needed. At 4:00 PM I will call Concorde again to see if they have their answer - if not, I will start the process all over again. At this point, we want the process moving forward and to have DS medically qualified.
 
I hope you have better luck than me. I spoke with a nurse at the MD's office yesterday who promised action and a return call to me yesterday. I've yet to receive the call and the status at DoDMETS remains Complete-hold. I'm going to call Concorde again right now to see if they made progress...Made that call Concorde says they spoke to someone at MD's office who said they would review the file, make the correction, and fax new revised paperwork. That apparently hasn't happened yet.
 
Apparently Concorde finally received whatever they needed. It was received and reviewed by DoDMERB on the same day. Unfortunately the status is now remedial, asking for medical records for a 4 week period my son wore an OTC knee brace during wrestling season on the advice of the high school athletic trainer. I started a new thread on this...not sure how to satisfy a request for records when there are no records.
 
Lesson learned - if an MD didn't prescribe it, it never should have been reported.

But it has been reported. Suggest you write a letter just like your post.

Dear Sir:

It was recommended to DS/DD by the school trainer to wear the brace during wrestling season as a protective measure.

There are no medical records to review.

There have been no issues with the knee and the brace is no longer used.

Regards,
 
I appreciate that thought. DS is 18, so he'll have to write the letter himself. I guess we'll find out if that doesn't satisfy the reviewer. Good point on the "lesson learned." There are so many intricacies here...it is quite a daunting task to complete such a medical questionnaire, even for a kid with only a couple of things he mentioned (seasonal allergies, adolescent acne (both resolved OTC) and knee brace for a few weeks.) The only thing he has records on would be his appendicitis and there was zero interest in that!
 
Your son will soon learn why 5 basic responses is all the military requires to any question:

Yes
No
No excuse
I do not know
I do not understand

Fast Neat Average Friendly Good Good
 
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